View source for F-logic

'''F-logic''' ('''Frame logic''') is a [[knowledge representation]] and [[ontology language]]. It combines the advantages of conceptual modeling with [[Object-oriented programming|object-oriented]], [[Frame (artificial intelligence)|frame]]-based languages, and offers a [[Declarative programming|declarative]], compact and simple [[Syntax (programming languages)|syntax]], and the well-defined semantics of a [[logic programming]] language. 

Features include, among others, object identity, complex objects, [[Inheritance (object-oriented programming)|inheritance]], [[Polymorphism (computer science)|polymorphism]], query methods, [[Encapsulation (computer programming)|encapsulation]]. F-logic stands in the same relationship to [[object-oriented programming]] as classical [[relational calculus]] stands to [[relational database]] programming.

==Overview==
F-logic was developed by Michael Kifer at [[Stony Brook University]] and Georg Lausen at the [[University of Mannheim]]. F-logic was originally developed for deductive databases, but is now used most often for semantic technologies, especially the [[semantic web]]. F-logic is considered as one of the formalisms for [[Ontology (information science)|ontologies]], but [[description logic]] (DL) is more popular and accepted, as is the DL-based [[Web Ontology Language]] (OWL).

A development environment for F-logic was developed in the NeOn project and is also used in a range of applications for information integration, [[question answering]] and [[semantic search]]. Before version 4 of Protégé ontology editor, F-Logic is supported as one of the two kinds of ontology.

The frame syntax of the [[Rule Interchange Format]] Basic Logic Dialect (RIF BLD) standardized by the [[World Wide Web Consortium]] is based on F-logic; RIF BLD however omits [[non-monotonic reasoning]] features of F-logic.<ref name="Krötzsch2010">{{cite book |last1=Krötzsch |first1=M. |date=October 2010 |title=Description Logic Rules|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Z8h7AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA10 |page=10 |publisher=IOS Press |isbn=978-1-61499-342-1}}</ref>

In contrast to [[description logic]] based ontology formalism, the semantics of F-logic are normally that of a [[closed world assumption]] in contrast to DL's [[open world assumption]]. Also, F-logic is generally [[Undecidable problem|undecidable]],{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}} whereas the SHOIN description logic that [[Web Ontology Language]] (OWL) DL is based on is decidable. However, it is possible to represent more expressive statements in F-logic than are possible with description logics.

The most comprehensive description of F-logic was published in 1995.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kifer |first1=M. |last2=Lausen |first2=G. |last3=Wu |first3=J. |date=July 1995 |title=Logical foundations of object-oriented and frame-based languages |journal=Journal of the ACM |volume=42 |issue=4 |pages=741–843 |doi=10.1145/210332.210335}}</ref> The preliminary paper<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kifer |first1=M. |last2=Lausen |first2=G. |date=1 June 1989 |title=F-logic: a higher-order language for reasoning about objects, inheritance, and scheme |journal=ACM SIGMOD Record |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=134–146 |doi=10.1145/66926.66939}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kifer |first1=M. |last2=Lausen |first2=G. |date=1997 |title=F-logic: a higher-order language for reasoning about objects, inheritance, and scheme (re-issued) |journal=ACM SIGMOD Record |volume=18 |issue=2 |pages=134–146 |doi=10.1145/66926.66939}}</ref> from 1989 won the 1999 Test of Time Award from ACM [[SIGMOD]].<ref name="TOT">{{cite web |url=https://sigmod.org/sigmod-awards/sigmod-test-of-time-award/ |title=SIGMOD Test of Time Award |website=sigmod.org |access-date=2019-03-19}}</ref> A follow-up paper<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kifer |first1=M. |last2=Kim |first2=W. |last3=Sagiv |first3=Y. |date=June 1992 |title=Querying object-oriented databases |journal=ACM SIGMOD Record |volume=21 |issue=2 |pages=393–402 |doi=10.1145/141484.130342}}</ref> from 1992 won the 2002 Test of Time Award from ACM SIGMOD.<ref name="TOT"/>

== F-logic syntax ==
Classes and individuals may be defined in F-logic as follows:
 man::person.
 woman::person.
 brad:man.
 angelina:woman.
This states, that "men and women are persons" and that "Brad is a man", and "Angelina is a woman".

Statements about classes and individuals may be made as follows:
 person[hasSon=&gt;man].
 brad[hasSon-&gt;{maddox,pax}].
 married(brad,angelina).
This defines that "the son of a person is a man", "Maddox and Pax are the sons of Brad" and "Brad and Angelina are married".

In addition it is possible to represent axioms in F-logic in the following manner:
{{sxhl|2=prolog|
 man(X) <- person(X) AND NOT woman(X).
 X:person[hasFather->Y] <- Y:man[hasSon -> X].
}}
These mean "X is a man if X is a person but not a woman" and "if X is the son of Y then X is a person and Y is the father of X".

(Note: the latter inference is not factual, because in addition to fathers, sons also have mothers.
The gender of X is determined by the premise, but the gender of Y is not.)

The [[Flora-2]] system introduced a number of changes to the syntax of F-logic, making it more suitable for a knowledge representation and reasoning system as opposed to just a theoretical logic. In particular, variables became prefixed with a ?-mark, the distinction between functional and multi-valued properties was dropped and replaced by cardinality constraints, plus other important changes. For instance, the above pair of sentences look like this in Flora-2:
{{sxhl|2=prolog|
 man(?X) <- person(?X) \and \naf woman(?X).
 ?X:person[hasFather->?Y] <- ?Y:man[hasSon -> ?X].
}}
Here {{mono|\naf}} is default negation ("naf" stands for [[Negation as failure]], based on the [[well-founded semantics]]); Flora-2 also supports so-called explicit negation,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Alferes |first1=José Júlio |last2=Pereira |first2=Luís Moniz |last3=Przymusinski |first3=Teodor C. |date=April 1998 |title='Classical' negation in nonmonotonic reasoning and logic programming |journal=[[Journal of Automated Reasoning]] |volume=20 |issue=1–2 |pages=107–142 |doi=10.1023/A:1005900924623 |s2cid=8882426}}</ref> which is closer to negation in classical logic.

==F-logic based languages==
* [[Flora-2]] is an extension of F-logic with [[HiLog]], [[transaction logic]], and [[defeasible reasoning]].
* [http://coherentknowledge.com/ergo-documentation/ Ergo] is a commercial system based on F-logic, which extends Flora-2.
* [http://pathlp.sourceforge.net/ PathLP] is a full logic programming language based on F-logic.
* [https://dbis.informatik.uni-freiburg.de/forschung/projekte/Florid/index.html FLORID (F-LOgic Reasoning In Databases)] is a C++ — based implementation
* [http://www.wsmo.org/wsml/ Web Services Modeling Language (WSML)]
* [http://www.daml.org/services/swsl/ Semantic Web Services Language (SWSL)]
* ObjectLogic language is based on F-logic; OntoStudio is an ObjectLogic implementation by semafora systems GmbH (formerly [[Ontoprise GmbH]]).
* OO-logic is a successor of F-logic; SemReasoner and Ontology Management System (OSM) are implementations of OO-logic by adesso SE.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{Automated reasoning}}

[[Category:Knowledge representation]]
[[Category:Semantic Web]]
[[Category:Logic programming languages]]
[[Category:Declarative programming languages]]